I could never write it as slash - it just doesn't read that way to me (though I've no doubt whatsoever that it's been written by now)
[Deranged laughter] Oh yes. It's being written. And I'm rapidly coming to the view that the makers of this series are sophisticated enough to know all about slash; they're not writing it as canon, but they're slipping in enough signs to keep the slashers happy while not frightening anyone else's horses.
I don't think we can judge the overall premise until Monday night, when we see where they're going with it. I'm praying they don't blow it. My hunch - though I suppose this may depend on how confident they were of getting a second season - is that the coma plot won't be resolved. The plot arc for this season is about What Happened with Sam's Dad in 1973. And for that reason, I'm tempted to see Gene as a father surrogate. Not for who Sam's father actually was, but something a bit closer to what he'd have liked him to be - someone who is there, taking a strong line but simultaneously allowing him to try things out for himself, and always coming through for him in the end.
And I'm with you on Gene being the more interesting character. Sam's is too much defined by his predicament (though John Simm's a good enough actor to overcome that), whereas Gene just is; he's a man having to cope with the complexities of his own time and place without the metaphor of their being alien to him. Now I'm trying to work out how to persuade my fellow-Martians that we mustn't split our votes when it comes to Best Actor in a BBC Drama in December, because it has to be Philip Glenister. He's blown me away.
no subject
[Deranged laughter] Oh yes. It's being written. And I'm rapidly coming to the view that the makers of this series are sophisticated enough to know all about slash; they're not writing it as canon, but they're slipping in enough signs to keep the slashers happy while not frightening anyone else's horses.
I don't think we can judge the overall premise until Monday night, when we see where they're going with it. I'm praying they don't blow it. My hunch - though I suppose this may depend on how confident they were of getting a second season - is that the coma plot won't be resolved. The plot arc for this season is about What Happened with Sam's Dad in 1973. And for that reason, I'm tempted to see Gene as a father surrogate. Not for who Sam's father actually was, but something a bit closer to what he'd have liked him to be - someone who is there, taking a strong line but simultaneously allowing him to try things out for himself, and always coming through for him in the end.
And I'm with you on Gene being the more interesting character. Sam's is too much defined by his predicament (though John Simm's a good enough actor to overcome that), whereas Gene just is; he's a man having to cope with the complexities of his own time and place without the metaphor of their being alien to him. Now I'm trying to work out how to persuade my fellow-Martians that we mustn't split our votes when it comes to Best Actor in a BBC Drama in December, because it has to be Philip Glenister. He's blown me away.